Also how they handle illness. An unfortunate side effect of day care is lots of colds and if you dont have a back up baby sitter it xould also mean lots of in for seen sick days out of work. My 1st went to an in home day care(only about 5 kids of different ages total) and was barely sick but when she was most of the time the lady would still keep her since it was in her home. But my second went to a tutor time and I feel like he was sick every other week, any sign of illness and you need a doctors note to return which really caused a lot of stress for me at work

Do they supply diapers or do you bring your own? Do they supply food & snacks or do you bring your own? What’s the sick policy? Many daycares send kids home with fevers & have to be fever free with no medications to come back in. Staff ratio is a good one too as PP (previous poster) said. Where does baby sleep?

Staff ratios are usually set by the state or county so that should not vary from place to place. Not so much a question for them, but you should look up their licensing online and see if they’ve ever had any violations.

Sick policy was a big one for us. Also if you’re planning to pump, see how that works. Most places you need to bring prepared bottles. I got super lucky in that I was able to bring frozen milk and they thawed what they needed.

Other items: who provides foods snacks, vacation days, early or bulk pay discounts, late pick up policy (just in case!), vaccinations, see if they have apps or online portals to track baby during the day, and then anything else that comes to mind when you’re there.

I agree with PP. Also, what are the naptime arrangements? Are the classes divided into similar age groups? How is the day structured? Also. How long has staff been working there? That says a lot about employee happiness and retention.

DDs first daycare was basically all one big room with cribs along the walls. They were frustrated because she wouldn't nap much, but she was also in the same room with noisy toddlers running around.. we got her out as soon as we could.

All of the above are great questions. It was also important to me to know how they deal with baby when he or she is upset - like it worried me that my baby might be left crying in a crib for a long time or something. So I'd want to know how they handle fussy babies, what if all the babies are crying at once, etc.

I'd also ask if they have an open door policy for visits, how the classrooms are supervised, how they store breastmilk or formula, etc.

One thing that was never a question I though to ask was how do they communicate.

I just assumed I could pick up the phone and call if i had questions or concerns or if i wanted to check on my child but.... the 1st daycare he was in, they would not answer the phone, all communication was done through a stupid app and sometimes they wouldn't respond at all or maybe they would the next day. It was awful.

Last straw was when i was at a job interview and the left a message indicating there had been an incident but didn't say what. I spent hours frantically trying to get in touch with them and then called my MIL (mother-in-law) to go down there. Turns out he got bit, skin wasn't broken, shit happens and thats not that big of a deal. Not being able to speak to the person responsible for my child is. He never went back.

All great suggestions so far, also try to notice if any babies are being fed during your tour. Watch out for bottles being propped up to babies who are too young to hold them in their own. If a baby needs to be changed while you are there watch to see if the care giver actually washes his/her hands, etc...

A lot of of these questions they will answer the right way. So being overly observant will tell you a lot.

A big thing is to observe how much time the kids spend contained in swings/bouncy seats etc. At some daycares babies can spend most of the day in seats and swings and that's not good. Ask what the sleeping arrangements are, how often they check on sleeping infants, if they have policies against babies sleeping in seats in swings. Also ask if they follow babies' cues for feeding or sleeping or if they have a regimented schedule. Babies should feed/nap on their cues.

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